[gthtjtkt]

> by saying that they aren't touching the wheel or are ignoring messages.

The funniest part of Tesla's statement is the fact that it basically renders "Autopilot" worthless. Or, at best, turns it into nothing more than an Adaptive Cruise Control system with an extremely misleading (and dangerous) name.

Tesla has been all too happy to let people believe that Autopilot is what the name implies. They only make a real effort to correct that misconception when something bad happens. Then they finally say "It's not actually autopilot, you're still supposed to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road at all times", to which we collectively shrug and say "Well then what the hell is the point of Autopilot? And why did you give it such a misleading name?"

[slavik81]

I agree entirely. What's the point of an autopilot if I have to spend my entire drive watching it like a hawk to ensure it doesn't steer me into a wall?

You know what I really want? I want a vehicle to save me when I screw up. I love skiing, but it's a dangerous sport, and the most dangerous part is driving home. You're in the mountains in the dark, the road might be icy, and you're tired from a long day of strenuous exercise.

I want to see humans and machines working together. A car that could spot deer on or beside the road would save lives. They can be very difficult to see in the dark, and hitting one could send it through your windshield at highway speed.

Augmenting human ability has a lot of potential. Even just adding sensors that humans don't have would be huge. I bet those deer are way more obvious in infrared.

[kalleboo]

Mercedes has a night vision system like that https://youtu.be/d03SuJ0TVcY

[_ea1k]

Autopilot is a driver assistance feature, not a safety feature.

[kps]

Tesla claims it is. “Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur. It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists.” — https://www.tesla.com/blog/update-last-week%E2%80%99s-accide...

[_ea1k]

That is a really good point. I hadn't though until now about how that language makes it all so ambiguous. The implication that autopilot is safer than you doing it yourself has to be misleading as it implies that you shouldn't have to monitor it so closely.

Ugh.

[netsharc]

For a non-safety feature they do scream a lot about how many lives it saved...

[shkkmo]

> What's the point of an autopilot if I have to spend my entire drive watching it like a hawk to ensure it doesn't steer me into a wall?

If you fall asleep while driving, it may prevent you from driving into a barrier or on-coming traffic. It's not meant to take over the act of driving from you, but to provide assistance.

[userbinator]

you're still supposed to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road at all times

...and be ready to correct it should it try to steer into objects. IMHO that's even worse than plain old "manual" driving --- at least in that case, the car doesn't have a mind of its own and won't suddenly decide to steer itself. It'll keep going in a straight line even if (absolutely not recommended on a public road, but a good way of checking the suspension and steering) you take your hands off the wheel.

To me, it sounds more like driving with Tesla autopilot is like being a driving instructor for a not-too-great learner.

[stale2002]

" Or, at best, turns it into nothing more than an Adaptive Cruise Control system"

This is literally what Teslas autopilot system is.

It is adaptive cruise control and lane assist.

They do not claim to be self driving. It is not a level 3 system. It is level 2.

The purpose of autopilot is to have both the features of lane assist and adaptive cruise control.

What's the big deal? Why is this so surprising to you? This is what it is. Go buy a car from Google if you want a self driving level 3 car.

If you don't want a level 2 system then don't buy it.